Deer

Deer is the common name for a family of ruminant animals grouped by the fact that the males grow antlers in adulthood. Male deer are called stags, whereas females are does. One particular species of deer is the Scottish stag. Deer is the preferred food of the Hebridean Black breed of dragon.

History

The deer was a reoccurring Patronus within the Potter family: James Potter, his wife Lily, and his son Harry all have deer for Patronuses. James Potter was also an Animagus who could take the form of a stag. Severus Snape, as a sign of his undying affection for Lily, also had a doe for a Patronus, which persisted long after her death. In 1998, he cast this Patronus as a guide to lead Harry Potter to Godric Gryffindor's Sword hidden within a frozen lake of the Forest of Dean. It could be possible that Ginny Weasley's Patronus could have changed from a horse to a doe, for her love for her husband, Harry Potter, whose Patronus is a stag.